The Roles of MicroRNAs in Male Infertility

Abstract

MicroRNAs applications were vastly studied throughout the years, spanning from potential cancer biomarkers to targeted therapies for various diseases. Out of these utilizations, this paper focuses on their role in male infertility. Approximately 10–15% of worldwide couples are affected by infertility. Out of these, 50% are due to male determinants. The majority of cases still have an undetermined cause. Previous studies have found that the aberrant expression of microRNAs could be linked to certain reproductive dysfunctions in males. Further on, this study looked into the most recent literature published on this subject in order to assess the connection between the up-/down-regulation of various microRNAs and the roles they play in male infertility. MicroRNAs were found to be abundant and stable in the seminal liquid, which led to a facile identification using regular RNA detection methods. It was observed that the concentration of microRNAs in semen was modified in the case of patients suffering from asthenozoospermia and azoospermia. Moreover, idiopathic male infertility was associated with a single nucleotide polymorphism of the microRNA binding site. Future studies should focus their attention on discovering future treatments against male infertility targeting specific microRNAs and also on developing new and improved contraceptive methods.

Differentially expressed miRNAs and potential therapeutic targets for asthenospermia

“…Some studies suggested that miRNAs might also be involved in male infertility (Khazaie & Nasr Esfahani, 2014). Some differentially expressed miRNAs in this research, such as miR-34c-5p, miR-34b-5p, miR-146b-5p, miR-449a and miR-765, were reported that could potentially be used as diagnostic biomarkers for idiopathic male infertility (Barbu et al, 2021), as well as in the development of innovative targeted therapeutic tools. Athenozoospermia is a common cause of male infertility.…”

Nutritional dependence of sperm mitochondrial metabolism and small RNA biogenesis

“…Sperm sRNA profiles, especially alterations in miRNA have been studied in infertile men (Abu-Halima et al, 2014;Lian et al, 2009;Muñoz, Mata, Bassas, & Larriba, 2015;Salas-Huetos et al, 2016b;C. Wang et al, 2011), and have been suggested as biomarkers of male infertility (Kotaja, 2014;Barbu et al, 2021;Kiani, Salehi, & Mogheiseh, 2019;Salas-Huetos et al, 2020). Additionally, sperm tsRNA, miRNA and rsRNA has recently been shown to correlate with embryo quality (Grosso et al, 2021;Hua et al, 2019;Nätt & Öst, 2020; and piRNA are involved in paternal diet induced intergenerational response (Lempradl et al, 2021).…”

The protective effect of C-phycocyanin in male mouse reproductive system

“…1 Globally, about 10% to 15% of couples are affected by various conditions that lead to infertility, with up to 50% of those affected by male factors. 1,2 More than 30 million people worldwide suffer from male infertility. 3 Male infertility not only causes psychological pain to families but also increases certain economic burdens faced by society.…”